Thursday's DraftKings showdown is a single game, NSH @ COL, with a $50,000 cap and a captain slot that scores 1.5x points at 1.5x salary. The slate locks Thu 11/5 at 9:30 p.m. ET (6:30 p.m. PT).
Our model's top play is Nathan MacKinnon (COL) at $11,000. He carries a ceiling of 36.1 against a DraftKings average of 18.1, the highest ceiling on the board by a wide margin. Cale Makar (COL) comes next at $9,800 with a ceiling of 28.9 and an average of 14.5. On the NSH side, Roman Josi stands out at $8,600, with a ceiling of 27.5 and an average of 14.3.
The goalies are priced high and project lower. MacKenzie Blackwood (COL) costs $10,400 with a ceiling of 17.8, and Juuse Saros (NSH) costs $9,400 with a ceiling of 15.2. Neither one tops the skaters' ceilings, and those salaries eat a big share of the cap.
The clearest value is Adam Wilsby (NSH) at $4,800. His average is just 6.2, but his ceiling of 21.8 is above Artturi Lehkonen's 21.5 at $8,200, and it comes at a much lower cost. Lehkonen (COL) is the pricier mid-tier option, averaging 12.5 with that 21.5 ceiling. Filip Forsberg (NSH) is another 12.5 average at $8,800, with a ceiling of 19.3. On the status front, Jonathan Marchessault (NSH) is tagged DTD, Josh Manson (COL) is OUT, and William Trudeau (NSH) and Zachary L'Heureux (COL) are on IR.
Our fact sheet does not include ownership figures, so we can't say where the crowd will land.
Our model's top lineup uses $49,900 of the $50,000 cap. It puts Nathan MacKinnon at captain for $16,500, then fills the FLEX spots with Cale Makar ($9,800), Adam Wilsby ($4,800), Artturi Lehkonen ($8,200), Parker Kelly ($3,600) and Devon Toews ($7,000). The build leans on COL and uses Wilsby and Kelly to make the salary work.
Lineups lock Thu 11/5 at 9:30 p.m. ET.
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